Road repair truck

ABSTRACT

A vehicular truck equipped for road repair work is described, including a repair materials hopper, a front discharge chute and a drive worm conveyor mechanism for transporting road repair material from the hopper through the chute for deposit in a pavement &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;pothole&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; or the like to be repaired, is described. The discharge end of the material chute carries a rake movable up and down, from side-to-side and from front-to-back, through the use of hydraulic piston control mechanism controllable by a single operator in the truck cab, for spreading the deposited material evenly over the pavement defect being repaired. A hydraulically controlled roller, also controlled by the single operator in the cab, is mounted at the rear end of the truck for use in rolling the deposited and raked repair material to complete the road repair operation.

United States Patent Primary E.raminer.lacob L. Nackenoff Attorney-James.l. Cannon ABSTRACT: A vehicular truck equipped for road repair work isdescribed, including a repair materials hopper, a front discharge chuteand a drive worm conveyor mechanism for transporting road repairmaterial from the hopper through the chute for deposit in a pavementpothole" or the like to be repaired, is described. The discharge end ofthe material chute carries a rake movable up and down, from side-to-sideand from front-to-back, through the use of hydraulic piston controlmechanism controllable by a single operator in the truck cab, forspreading the deposited material evenly over the pavement defect beingrepaired. A hydraulically controlled roller, also controlled by thesingle operator in the cab. is

PATENTEU DEC 7197! SHEET 1 0F 2 INVENTOR. JOSEPH Ill/4G) PATENTEU nu:71911 sum 2 OF 2 INVENTOR. oOSEP/l Away ROAD REPAIR TRUCK This inventionrelates to pavement repair apparatus and is directed particularly to aroad repair truck having means for automatically depositing, raking androlling road repair material in pavement defects such as potholes forconvenient and economical road maintenance.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a road repair truckhaving a hopper for holding a supply of road repair material such as hotor cold mix asphalt, a discharge chute for depositing the repairmaterial in the pavement or road hole to be filled, conveying means forautomatically conveying a predetermined amount of material through thechute, power driven remote control means for evenly raking the depositedmaterial in place, and remotely controllable roller for rolling theplaced and raked material to complete the repair operation.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a road repair truck ofthe above nature having a drivers cab at the front, from which positionthe vehicle is driven from place to place, and including hydraulic meansremotely controlled by the truck operator in the driver's cab for movingthe rake in three dimension, that is, up and down, side to side, andfront to back, for remotely effecting the raking operation, and whereinthe driving of the truck, depositing of the road repair material, andthe raking and rolling thereof can be carried out on a continuous basisby a single operator.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a novel roadrepair apparatus suitable for use with either hot or cold asphalt roadrepair mixes, tar, sand, and the like materials commonly used in roadrepair and service work.

Yet another object is to provide a road repair truck of the characterdescribed that is fully automatic to the extent that it can be operatedin road repair operations by a single operator having a full view of theroad surface area being worked and without any necessity for his leavingthe cab during the road repair work.

Other objects, features and advantages will be apparent from thefollowing description when read with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. In the drawings, wherein like reference numerals denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a road repair truck embodying theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a top view thereof; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 ofFIG. 2 in the direction of the arrows.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, reference numeral in FIGS. 1and 2 designates, generally, a preferred form of road repair truckembodying the invention, the same being comprised of a truck framework11 supported by a pair of front wheels 12 and a pair of rear wheels 13and having a drivers cab 14 at one side of the front provided with theusual driving control mechanism (not illustrated) and a steering wheel,indicated at 15, for driving the vehicle as one would an ordinary truck.Inasmuch as the engine, spring-mounted undercarriage for the wheels 12and 13, etc. are similar to the corresponding mechanisms in ordinaryvehicular trucks, they are not illustrated and described herein indetail.

The truck framework 11, at the rear portion thereof, supports a repairmaterial hopper 16 having a transversely extending rear vertical wall17, an inwardly inclined front wall 18, and inwardly inclined sidewallsl9 and 20. Outward of the inwardly inclined sidewall 19 and 20 arerespective spaced, parallel sidewalls 21, 22 defining narrow inwardlyinclined spaces therebetween for the purpose hereinafter appearing. Thelower ends of the outer sidewalls 21 and 22 merge into spaced, parallelvertical wall end portions 23, 24 respectively, extending centrally fromfront to back at the bottom of the hopper 16. The lower ends of thewalls ends portions 23, 24 are welded or otherwise secured to ahorizontal bottom plate 25 supported in spaced relation above the truckframework 1 1.

A helical conveyor or drive worm 26 is disposed longitudinally withinthe recess at the bottom of the hopper 16, being journaled at its rearend in the rear vertical wall of the hopper, whereat upon an outwardlyextending shaft portion thereof, it carries a driven gear 27. The drivengear 27 is drivingly connected, through a drive chain 28, with a piniongear 29 carried at the rear end of a drive shaft 30. The drive shaft 30is appropriately journaled, at its rear end, in the rear vertical wall17 of the hopper l6, and, at its forward end, in a support bearing 31secured with respect to the bottom plate 25. A universal joint 32drivingly interconnects the drive shaft 30 with a second drive shaft 33(partially illustrated) driven by the truck engine (not illustrated).

The front end of the drive worm 26 extends into the rear end portion ofa cylindrical conveyor tube 34 communicating at the bottom recess of thehopper 16. The conveyor tube 34 extends horizontally and centrallyforward to terminate just short of the truck framework 11, with respectto which it is securely fixed by appropriate support mechanism (notillustrated). A flexible downwardly extending, arcuate repair materialchute 35 has its upper end fitted over the outer end of the conveyortube 34 so as to receive material being fed through said conveyor tubeby the drive worm 26, while at the same time permitting substantialmovement of the lower end of the chute 35 in the manner and for reasonshereinbelow more particularly described.

The lower, downwardly extending end of the arcuate material chute 35 issubstantially rectangular in shape, as indicated at 36, being elongatedin the transverse direction, and carries a triangular rake 37, theprongs of which are normally disposed in spaced parallel above theroadway along which the truck is moving.

Means is provided for controllably moving the lower end of the materialchute 35 and its associated rake 37 in the forward and backward or backand forth direction with respect to the front of the truck framework 11.To this end, a hydraulic piston cylinder 38 is supported at its rearend, through a universal ball joint 39, by a support bracket 40 fixedwith respect to the truck framework 11. The forwardly extending pistonrod 41 of the hydraulic piston cylinder 38 connects, at its outer end,with the triangular rake 37. Control of hydraulic fluid to the hydraulicpiston cylinder 38 in turn controls the back and forth movement of therake 37.

Means is also provided for controlling the up and down movement of thematerial chute 35 and its associated rake 37. To this end, a secondhydraulic piston cylinder 42 is provided, the rear end which issupported, through a universal ball joint 43, by a support bracket 44secured with respect to the truck framework 11. The outer end of thepiston rod 45 associated with the hydraulic piston cylinder 42 is linkedto an outer end portion of the back and forth movement hydraulic pistoncylinder 38, whereby said cylinder can be moved up and down by thecontrol of hydraulic fluid to the hydraulic piston cylinder 42.

Means is also provided for moving the lower end of the material chute 35and its associated rake 37 from side to side with respect to the truckframework 11. To this end, a third hydraulic piston cylinder 46 isprovided, the rear end of which is secured, through a universal balljoint 47, to a support bracket 48 fixed with respect to the truckframework 11. The forward end of the piston rod 49 associated with thehydraulic piston cylinder 46 is pivotally linked with a forward endportion of the back-and-forth hydraulic piston cylinder 38, to controlthe side-to-side movement of said cylinder in accordance with thecontrol of hydraulic fluid flowing through the hydraulic piston cylinder46. As illustrated in FIG. 2 the hydraulic flow circuits (notillustrated) of the hydraulic piston cylinder 42, controllingup-and-down movement of the material chute 35 and its associated rake37, will be controlled by an up-anddown" control lever 50 in thedriver's cab 14; the hydraulic piston cylinder 46 controllingside-to-side or right and left movement of the material chute 35 and itsassociated rake 37, will be controlled by a right and left control lever51 in the drivers cab 14; and hydraulic piston cylinder 38 controllingforward and backward movement of the material chute 35 and itsassociated rake 37, will be controlled by a "forward and backwardcontrol lever 52 in the driver's cab 14.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, a longitudinally extending gas burner53 is arranged just below the bottom arcuate wall position 68immediately above which the drive worm turns, for the purpose of feedingrepair material being fed through the hopper 16 just prior to its beingdispensed through the material chute 35. The gas burner 53 is fed at itsrear end by a gas supply pipe 54 leading from a cylindrical gas tank 55supported transversely at the rear end of the truck framework 1 l. A gasflow control valve 56 in the supply pipe 54 serves to regulate the heatsupplied to the repair material being conveyed through the chute 35.

A heavy cylindrical roller 59 is joumaled between angular supportbrackets 60 and 61 for support between upstanding support arms 62 and 63at the rear end of the truck framework 11, whereat said arms arepivotally connected. Hydraulic piston cylinders 64 pivotally connectedat their lower ends to opposed end portions of the truck frame 11 andhaving piston rods 66 linked, as indicated at 67 with respect to angularsupport brackets 60 and 61 provide means for lifting the roller 59 upabove the roadway when not in use.

In use of the road repair truck a suitable road hole or crack patchingmaterial will be supplied to the hopper 16, said hopper being largeenough to hold material for large number of road or pavement repairs ofusual type to be made, such as "pothole" for example. The repairmaterial, of a nature suitable for the particular type of defect in theroadway sought to be repaired will ordinarily be in the form of a liquidbinder mixed with suitable aggregate material, such as tar and gravel ofthe desired consistency. Various hot and cold asphalt mixtures areparticularly well suited for use with the road repair truck embodyingthe invention. When hot mixes are used, the gas burner 53 will ignitedand set at a suitable flame height to keep the mixture in a loose enoughstate to permit conveying through chute 35 and working in the road holebeing repaired, as is hereinbelow more particularly described.

After the repair truck is positioned with the outer end opening 36 ofthe chute 35 directly above the hole to be repaired, the material driveworm conveyor 26 will be set into operation to move the repair materialforwardly through the material chute 35. A foot pedal 69 in the driver'scab 14 is preferably provided for setting the worm gear 26 in operationthrough appropriate clutch mechanism controlling rotation of drive shaft33, which mechanism may be of conventional structure and therefore isnot herein more particularly described. As soon as sufficient repairmaterial has been deposited in the hole or other pavement defect to berepaired, the clutch 69 will be disengaged to terminate the fiow ofmaterial. lt will be understood that the operator in the cab 14, throughappropriate glass panels at the front of said cab, has full view of thepavement area immediately to the front of the truck so that he canoversee all the various steps of a road repairing operation. After arequired amount of road repair has been deposited in the pothole orother pavement defect to be repaired, the front end of the chute 35 andits associated triangular rake 37 will be lowered and moved from rightto left and forward and backward by means of the respective controllevers 50, 51 and 52 to evenly distribute the material within and at asubstantially uniform distance above the road level in the vicinity ofthe hole to allow for compacting by roller 59. The road repair truckwill then be driven forwardly over the hole being repaired so that theroller 59 is over the hole, whereupon it will be lowered by actuation ofthe hydraulic piston cylinder 64 into contact with the raked material.In and out action of a roller control piston rod 66 will cause theroller to move back and forth over the filled area to compact the roadrepair material in place, thereby completing the repair operation. ifthe rolling operation required should be more extensive than can beaccommodated by control of the hydraulic piston cylinder 64, the wholetruck can be moved back and forth over a span sufficient to complete therolling operation.

In instances where heavy, highly compacted, viscous repair materials areused, it is contemplated that the space between the inwardly inclinedsidewalls 19, 20 and their respective spaced parallel sidewalls 21 and22 can be utilized to feed oil down into the bottom hopper chamber orrecess in which the drive worm 26 rotates to lubricate and thereby aidin the forward movement of material for discharge through the chute 35.

An important advantage of the invention resides in the fact that it canbe driven and operated by one man without leaving the vehicle cab,thereby being unusually economical in operation. The fully automaticoperation of the road repair truck moreover results in rapidperformance, permitting the repair of a large number of minor roaddefect such as potholes by a single operator in a single workday.Working in cooperation with a material supply truck operated by anotherworkman, a two-man team can repair many miles of roadway in a singleworkday. It is also to be noted that the repair truck can also be usedas a road sander, during which operation the truck would be drivenslowly forward while sand was fed continuously from the hopper throughthe discharge chute 35. In such use, it will be understood that thedischarge opening at the bottom of the material chute 35 could be of anappropriate size, especially as to width, for the desired distributionof the sand.

While I have illustrated and described herein only one form in which myinvention can conveniently be embodied in practice, it is to beunderstood that this form is presented by way of example only and not ina limiting sense. The invention, in brief, comprises all the embodimentsand modifications coming within the scope and spirit of the followingclaims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a road repair truck, the combination comprising a vehicle frame, apair of front wheels and a pair of back wheels rollably supporting saidvehicle frame, a road repair materials hopper having inclined sides anda rounded bottom supported upon said vehicle frame, a conveyor screw insaid rounded bottom, means for driving said screw, conveyor tube meanscommunicating with the rounded bottom of said hopper and extending fromthe forward end of said hopper, a flexible discharge chute connected tothe forward end of said conveyor tube means and having a discharge endextending downwardly over the front end of said vehicle frame fordispensing road repair material therefrom, said conveyor screw conveyingroad repair material from said hopper to said discharge chute fordeposit in a pavement hole to be repaired, a rake device secured to thedischarge end of said discharge chute, piston means for moving saiddischarge end and said rake comprising three hydraulic piston cylinders,one for sideto-side motion, one for front-to-back motion and one forupand-down action, said hydraulic piston cylinders being arranged tomove said deposit end with respect to the forward end of said vehiclefor evenly depositing and raking road repair material, control meansfrom operator station on the vehicle whereby road repair material may befed to the repair area by operation of said conveyor screw and properpositioning of said discharge end of said discharge chute whereby thedischarge materials may be raked by said rake into said repair area, androller means including control means therefor for compacting said roadrepair material to complete a repair of a pavement.

2. In a road repair truck as defined in claim 1, including means on therear of said truck to retract and lower said roller into position toroll and smoothly compact said road repair material to conform to thecontour surface of said pavement.

3. ln a road repair truck as defined in claim 1, including heating meansalong the length of the rounded bottom portion of said hopper.

4. In a road repair truck as defined in claim 1, wherein said rake is ofV-shape and is secured to the rectangular discharge end of saiddischarge chute.

5. A road repair truck as defined in claim 1, wherein said materialconveyor screw comprises an elongated worm driven road surface overwhich the repair truck moves.

7. A road repair truck as defined in claim 1, wherein said operatorsstation comprises an operators cab having transparent panels thereinmounted at the front and to one side of said vehicle frame, said chutemoving means further comprising manually actuatable means forindividually controlling said hydraulic piston cylinders.

1. In a road repair truck, the combination comprising a vehicle frame, apair of front wHeels and a pair of back wheels rollably supporting saidvehicle frame, a road repair materials hopper having inclined sides anda rounded bottom supported upon said vehicle frame, a conveyor screw insaid rounded bottom, means for driving said screw, conveyor tube meanscommunicating with the rounded bottom of said hopper and extending fromthe forward end of said hopper, a flexible discharge chute connected tothe forward end of said conveyor tube means and having a discharge endextending downwardly over the front end of said vehicle frame fordispensing road repair material therefrom, said conveyor screw conveyingroad repair material from said hopper to said discharge chute fordeposit in a pavement hole to be repaired, a rake device secured to thedischarge end of said discharge chute, piston means for moving saiddischarge end and said rake comprising three hydraulic piston cylinders,one for side-to-side motion, one for front-to-back motion and one forup-and-down action, said hydraulic piston cylinders being arranged tomove said deposit end with respect to the forward end of said vehiclefor evenly depositing and raking road repair material, control meansfrom operator station on the vehicle whereby road repair material may befed to the repair area by operation of said conveyor screw and properpositioning of said discharge end of said discharge chute whereby thedischarge materials may be raked by said rake into said repair area, androller means including control means therefor for compacting said roadrepair material to complete a repair of a pavement.
 2. In a road repairtruck as defined in claim 1, including means on the rear of said truckto retract and lower said roller into position to roll and smoothlycompact said road repair material to conform to the contour surface ofsaid pavement.
 3. In a road repair truck as defined in claim 1,including heating means along the length of the rounded bottom portionof said hopper.
 4. In a road repair truck as defined in claim 1, whereinsaid rake is of V-shape and is secured to the rectangular discharge endof said discharge chute.
 5. A road repair truck as defined in claim 1,wherein said material conveyor screw comprises an elongated worm drivenmember rotatably journalled in the bottom of said hopper, and a conveyortube communicating at the one end with said bottom of said hopper incoaxial alignment with said worm driven member, the other end of saidconveyor tube being in communication with the inlet end of said chute.6. A road repair truck as defined in claim 1, wherein said conveyor tubeextends substantially horizontally to the front of said vehicle frame,and wherein said discharge chute is of arcuate shape along its lengthwith its discharge end facing the road surface over which the repairtruck moves.
 7. A road repair truck as defined in claim 1, wherein saidoperators station comprises an operator''s cab having transparent panelstherein mounted at the front and to one side of said vehicle frame, saidchute moving means further comprising manually actuatable means forindividually controlling said hydraulic piston cylinders.